Ashley Thursby

Published

January 8, 2016

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Ashley grew up in Richmond, Missouri and began her studies in tap, jazz, and ballet from Tammie Sullard and Tanya Duncan. She received her formal training at age 9 from the Kansas City Ballet School on full merit scholarship and went on to study at The School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, LINES Pre-professional Program, and Jillana. After spending her senior year as a Student Apprentice with KCB she went on to study Ballet and Journalism through Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. There she had the privilege of being coached by Violette Verdy, Helen Starr, Cynthia Gregory, Deborah Wingert, and Michael Vernon, and was awarded the Friends of Music Scholarship and the National Society of Arts and Letters award. In 2008 Ashley joined Louisville Ballet and enjoys dancing in the classics as well as contemporary works by Val Caniparoli, Ma Cong, Adam Hougland, and Amy Seiwert. Ashley is a passionate advocate for the power that performance art can give to a community, and was honored in receiving the 2015 Artist Enrichment Grant for her choreography through the Kentucky Foundation for Women. After a day of dancing Ashley teaches within the Louisville Ballet School and at Core Fluency Pilates.